NASCAR prepared for economic crisis

NASCAR notebook

"It wasn't that long ago that the tech bubble and 9/11 occurred, which really had, as you recall, a significant short-term, but significant nonetheless, impact on the leisure activities and sporting events and all the rest, and travel," he said.

"This probably, to everybody, is more significant, at least on the surface. So there is a big uncertainty about people's ability to do all the things that they want to do financially, given the backdrop of the credit crisis and all the rest."

France said NASCAR's business is off "single digits, as it stands now. We tend to fare much better than other industries, thankfully. That's because sports are so culturally ingrained to fans. It's one of the last things that they want to not participate in."

Making his remarks earlier this week while announcing Camping World as the new title sponsor for the truck series, France noted that teams have become more aggressive in seeking sponsorship during these tough economic times.

"I think the number is going to be close to between 80 and 100 million dollars of new money that is predicted to flow into NASCAR from team sponsorship in '09," he said. "Now that's lower than we've traditionally had as a rate of increase. But, nonetheless, with the backdrop of the economy we're living in today, it's fairly good.

"Most of the teams in the Sprint Cup level are well-funded. There are obviously some teams that aren't, but there are always teams that aren't. Some of that is based on performance, not necessarily theeconomy. So teams that tend to perform consistently well tend to do very well in the sponsorship area as you would think."

Even so, France understands that this is an uneasy time for many team owners.

"Are teams nervous, or not hearing from their current sponsors about doing one thing or another thing differently or less? Sure," he noted. "That's just the nature of it. Every industry is looking around trying to get more value, trying to get more out of something that they're already doing or may do in the future. That's just the nature of dealing with and depending on corporate America to the level that NASCAR does."

Chasing Jimmie

Four races to go in the 2008 NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup and just about everyone has conceded Jimmie Johnson his third straight championship.

With Johnson's history of finishing what he starts in the Chase, it doesn't seem likely anyone will catch him. But Biffle hasn't given up the pursuit.

"I know that there are a lot of things that can happen inside of a race car," Biffle said. "There's a grocery list of things that can happen that is going to put us even in the points with him, and all you can do is do your best and not worry about him and not look at him ... and then let nature take its course, for lack of a better terminology.

"We had the Talladega wreck, of course, and then we had the Carl's ignition problem (at Charlotte). We've seen guys get flat tires or engine failures. All kinds of things can happen, so we just do the best we can and see what happens."

Wishful thinking? Edwards doesn't think so.

"We can run well enough," he said. "It's completely reasonable for us to run well enough in these last (few) races to just earn enough points to make it up. It's not going to be easy, that's for sure, but we can do it."

Even eighth-place Tony Stewart, 338 points behind Johnson, isn't ready to crown the leader or give up just yet.

"Until somebody comes up and says, 'OK, mathematically you are out of it,' until then, we have a shot," the two-time Cup champion said.

Biffle dreaming big

If Greg Biffle does manage to overtake series leader Jimmie Johnson and win the 2008 Cup title, he would be the first driver to win championships in all three of NASCAR's top series.

Biffle won the truck title in 2000 and added the championship in Nationwide - then the Busch Series - in 2002.

"It would be pretty spectacular," Biffle said. "I've certainly paid my dues. I've put in a lot of hard work and effort and we've got four opportunities left to try and close that deal.

"It would mean a great deal to me, especially to do it with the same team - all three series with Roush Fenway."

Stat of the week

Four-time series champion Jeff Gordon, winless so far this season, has won at least two races in each of the last 14 seasons.

To extend that record, he needs a couple of wins during the final four races of 2008: Atlanta; Fort Worth, Texas; Phoenix; and Homestead, Fla.

Gordon has won four races at Atlanta and one at Phoenix, but Texas and Homestead are the only two current Cup tracks where he has failed to reach Victory Circle.